Friday, November 16, 2007

First off, thanks to Cuse Country for the link. I was not expecting that : ) Secondly, I'm not sure how much I'll post here. I'll probably post more later in the year when baseball news dies down (I have a baseball blog too), but who knows. If you stop by -- thanks, and feel free to leave a comment or anything. It's tough to blog about a team you can't even watch ....

Anyway, not a great start for the Bearcats. I'm sure you know by now, but here are the early results:

They're playing very average basketball, but that's against opponents that will probably be some of the easiest on the schedule. The one problem, I think, continues to be the 3 pointer. UC is shooting 31.3% from beyond the arc, while they're allowing their opponents to shoot 35.6% from 3. They're going to have to find a way to defend the 3 point shot better on defense, and shoot it better (or less often) on offense. So far here are their percentages from 3 and from 2:

Cincy2: 50.4%3: 31.3%

Opponents2: 52.2%3: 35.6%

They have done a better job getting to the line and converting from there, but the defense just has to tighten up. After a nice win tonight against Coastal Carolina (where Deonta Vaughn 36 points on 19 shots from the field), they have 8 days to work on it before facing Fairfield.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Well, the 2007-2008 regular season starts tonight against Belmont! Last year, Belmont went 23-10 in an impressive campaign. They were, however, just 9-6 out of conference and 10-6 on the road.

That being said, they are dangerous tonight as they're lethal from beyond the 3 point line. Last year they went 288-811 from three (35.5%). That's 8.7 3-pointers made per game. They get back their three best options from beyond the arc in Justin Hare, Andy Wicke, and Matt Dotson. In his three year career, Hare has buried 146 3's (37.8%). Junior Andy Wicke shoots 3's more often and is more accurate. He's already made 140 (41.8%) in just 61 games at Belmont. His game revolves almost completely around the 3, as 76% of his field goals come from 3 point land. The final part of the trio is Matt Doston, a 6-8 Junior forward who is 67-197 from 3 in his 2 seasons at Belmont.

This does not bode well for a Cincinnati team that gave up 231 3's last year (2nd most per game amongst big east teams) and a 37.7% against from beyond the arc (2nd worst in big east). Hopefully, as you'd expect, they worked on defending 3's and are ready for Belmont's long range attack. This one probably won't be as easy as some think, but I think Cincy will get by when it's all said and done. As long as they avoid being hit by a 3 point barrage, their physicality and athleticism should get them past a dangerous Belmont team.